Friday, 2 November 2012

57 Variety – on the way out

From November 5th, Stockwood's other bus route into town will
be pared right down. Abus is cutting the daytime frequency of its 57
service, via Bath Road. Peak services will remain, but after that
it will be every hour at best, with a much longer gap in inward
journeys during the afternoon. The new timetable is
here.

It's
bad news for Stockwood, because for years Abus have offered a far cheaper trip into
town than the exorbitant single fares on First's 54 service, and the
only short access to the eastbound bus corridor along the Bath Road,
toward Keynsham and Bath.

One
contributory factor must be the national concessionary fare pass.
For pass holders, fare differentials are not an issue, so First's
more frequent buses have been able to draw more custom than they
deserve, especially in the off-peak hours.

For those travellers
who do have to pay, First have the economies of scale that allow them
to offer more attractive deals like the First Day tickets. They've
also looked after their own monopoly interests by resisting, for
years, any attempts to launch similar city-wide tickets that are valid on
services operated by other companies. And, in a mini 'bus war' when Abus were
running the 57 service on Saturdays, First ran so many buses on the
alternative 54 route that the smaller Abus couldn't command the
passenger share to keep their buses running.

Thank
you, Mrs Thatcher – and all the administrations of every colour
that have followed in your footsteps.

1 comment:

When I saw the announcement I could have spat nails! The problem with the 57 has always been, absurdly, local loyalty from older passengers. Those I have spoken to prefer to use the 57 because they'd rather support a local firm.

Many younger passengers don't appear to mind either way, or else they need to get to places like Broadwalk and so can't use the 57.The £1 subsidy the Council pays for Concessionary Bus Pass travel is clearly insufficient.

Another issue is the timetable; I prefer to catch A Bus services, but the last 57 from Bristol Bridge is at 6:13pm, and I often work later than that.

The Mayoral Election pledge that would swing many votes is getting rid of First Bus!

About this Blog

This one's from the little known Bristolian outpost of Stockwood, first settled by city expats back in the fifties. Leafy, open, and close to the countryside.... until they grub up the Green Belt and open spaces to build an 'urban extension'.

Written by an adoptive Stockwoodsman, arrived from the wild north-east back in 2004, this blog sets out to look at Stockwood and Bristol issues, mostly from a green perspective